Big Law Read Free Page B

“four corner” partners. They were the top rainmakers, the partners who enjoyed the bulk of the profits, while the other partners, the “service partners,” sweated it out in the trenches. After the “service partners” came the senior associates, who had their own offices. Next were the junior associates, who shared an office with another junior associate. Enter yours truly. Share a 150-square-foot space with another person for fifteen to twenty hours a day, and even the most unobtrusive, agreeable officemate will eventually get on your nerves. It reminded me of an experiment I’d studied in tenth grade science—a cage of rats are supplied with food and water, replenished to support an increasing population, but the size of the cage remained fixed. The result was hyper-aggression and increased mortality. Some rats even ate their own offspring in an effort to prevent the overcrowding. After more than a year sharing a small space with Sadir, I could relate. At least I hadn’t killed him … yet.
    My computer pinged with Alex’s response. Still here and you’re going to need a boatload of caffeine . I just heard Russ tell his secretary to have breakfast delivered to the war room at 5 A.M .
    I groaned, suddenly reminded of why I never liked working with Russ Tornelli. He lived at the office. “Literally,” Sadir had emphasized when he’d passed on this tidbit of gossip. When his lease ran out a year ago, Russ had apparently slept in his office for two months because he was too cheap to rent another apartment. He was currently sleeping on his parents’ couch when he wasn’t at the office and still had no intention of getting his own apartment.
    As part of my preparation for hunkering down I reluctantly sent an email to Jason, who I knew was waiting patiently for me at my apartment, as he was most nights when he left the office before me.
    To: Jason Kermode
    From: Mackenzie Corbett
    It’s going to be another late night here—you can go ahead and order the pizza and watch Mad Men without me. Sorry!! If you’re awake when I get home I promise to greet you like Megan greets Don ;)

    To: Mackenzie Corbett
    From: Jason Kermode
    Now there’s no way I’ll be asleep! 1-4-3
    A wide smile broke across my face. 1: I . 4: Love . 3: You . It was a special code we had developed early in our relationship, a way to secretly connect at work. Sometimes Jason would tap out the code on the table when we were in the same meeting, other times I’d arrive at work to find a yellow sticky note on my monitor with the code. It still felt unreal that I was the girlfriend of such an irresistible guy. Not that I was inclined to ever resist him.
    1-4-3, I wrote back, wishing I was snuggling up with him on the couch instead of holed up in my office.
    “I’m going to grab some caffeine,” I announced to Sadir. “Need anything other than Red Bull?”
    “Just get me the Red Bull,” he mumbled without looking up.
    I pecked out a quick IM to Alex. Wanna join me on a coffee run?
    See you at the elevator , he wrote back.
    I grabbed a random file, ensuring I looked busy, tucked it under my arm and made my way down the corridor. Despite the late hour, lights were still gleaming in offices, phones were still ringing, photocopiers still whirring. F&D, like all Biglaw firms, ensured its lawyers could work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There were night time secretaries that could be reserved when your own secretary went home and a round-the-clock photocopy and document support center to ensure that the marked-up drafts lawyers dropped off before leaving for the evening were retyped and waiting for them in their inboxes first thing in the morning. The full-service cafeteria, complete with a salad bar, sushi bar, grill station, and sundae bar, was available for all three meals. If you didn’t have time to leave your desk a cafeteria worker could bring it right to your office, piping hot. Prefer food from the outside world? No